TORONTO – Kelvin Gastelum might not have wanted to be a middleweight, but against Tim Kennedy he proved that he can do it when he has to.

After being tossed around by the bigger Kennedy (18-6 MMA, 3-2 UFC) early on, Gastelum (13-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) roared back to earn a late TKO victory, stopping Kennedy with strikes at the 2:45 mark of Round 3.

The middleweight bout was part of the main card of today’s UFC 206 event at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

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Kennedy’s game plan was evident early on, and for most of the first round it was nothing but successful. He easily closed the distance against Gastelum in the opening moments and flung him to the mat or else suffocated him against the fence, all while Gastelum seemed stuck in his grasp.

But as Kennedy began to slow late in the first, Gastelum began to score with crisp strikes, using his sharp left hand to raise significant swelling under Kennedy’s right eye late in the round. In the second, the extent of Kennedy’s fading cardio really became apparent, as his strikes and takedown attempts were labored affairs, while Gastelum’s strikes came fast and loose and easy.

By the final round, Kennedy was staggering forward with an attack that was as stubborn as it was feckless. While his heart was still willing, his flesh was fading fast. Gastelum began to open up with punch combos, sending Kennedy reeling into the fence.

As Gastelum followed behind a hard left hand, he succeeded in putting Kennedy down, then pouring on the punches to the motionless head of a downed and exhausted Kennedy. Once referee John McCarthy decided he’d seen enough, he moved in to wave it off just shy of the three-minute mark in the final round, awarding Gastelum the TKO victory.

“He’s very durable and I knew I was in for a dogfight,” Gastelum said. “But I was confident in my preparation and I was confident in my ability. If they give me a fight at middleweight that I want, I will stay at 185. If no fight interests me, I will drop to 170 and fight a No. 1 contender. I want a No. 1 contender and believe I deserve a No. 1 contender.”

The win makes it two in a row for Gastelum, who announced his intention to return to welterweight for his next fight, despite being unbeaten as a middleweight. Kennedy, who fought for the first time in slightly over two years, has now lost two straight for the first time in his career.

Matt Brown performed an honest career calculation that led him to his decision to retire after his next fight. His opponent, Diego Sanchez, seems to have chosen the opposite path. For many aging fighters, these are the two choices, and neither is an easy one to make.